Boljoon truck accident: Was driver drunk?

The driver of the truck, 50-year-old Danilo Niere, is treated at the Oslob District Hospital. CDN digital photo | Paul Lauro

Boljoon, Cebu—The Boljoon town Police are looking into the possibility that the driver of the mini dump truck that fell off a roadside cliff in Barangay Besiril here on Friday morning, July 19, 2019, was drunk.

This as some of the survivors of the accident claimed that the driver was intoxicated. 

Read more: 9 killed after student-loaded dump truck falls off cliff in Boljoon

But Police Staff Sergeant Nelson Sarcibal, the main investigator of the case, said they have yet to confirm if the driver, 50-year-old Danilo Niere, was indeed drunk as they await the medical results.

Sarcibal said that Niere was tasked by the Municipal government to pick up the children from the Barangay Nangka Elementary School to the town center for a Department of Education organized Nutrition Month Cultural and District Meet.

At least 30 passengers were on board the mini dump truck with 17 students, parents, and a teacher. Nine were killed while many others were injured.

Read more: BOLJOON ACCIDENT UPDATE: List of casualties  

Niere allegedly told a teacher who was sitting in the front passenger seat that he lost control of the truck prior to falling off the cliff.

“Ang iya (driver) giingon nga nawadan siyag brake, mao to natuwad ang truck,. (What the driver said was that he lost control of the brake and then the truck turned upside down),” said Sarcibal.

The driver is currently under police custody while recuperating at the Oslob District Hospital.

Sarcibal urged the parents of the deceased children to file charges against Niere because of the incident.

Niere will be facing charges of reckless imprudence resulting to multiple homicide and physical injuries. /bmjo